STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Sept. 13, 2024) – Powered by a career-high four goals from junior Johannes Hanken Tjostheim (Aalesund, Norway/Spring Hill College), the Mercy University men's soccer team earned a convincing 5-0 win over The College of Staten Island in their ECC opener on Friday afternoon at The CSI Outdoor Track & Field Complex.

The Mavericks (2-0-1, 1-0 ECC) have won two games in a row and post their third straight shutout to open the season. Mercy defeats the Dolphins (0-3, 0-1 ECC) for the first time since 2021 and the Mavericks win their ECC opener for the sixth straight season.

Mercy was led by Hanken Tjostheim who had a game-high four goals and now has a team-high six goals on the year. The four goals are the most scored by a Maverick in a game since Daniel Dalmau scored four goals against D'Youville on November 6, 2021. Junior Mateo Bacigalupo (Buenos Aires, Argentina/Colegio Cardenal Newman) netted his first goal of the season and dished out his first assist of the season. Junior Mathias Schilbred-Eriksen (Bergen, Norway/Tertnes Videregaaende Skole) and sophomore Marcel Duffau (Santiago, Chile/Dunalastair School) both recorded their first assists of the season. Senior Eirik Elvestad (Oslo, Norway/Blindern VGS) made one save to post his third shutout of the season.

Staten Island was led by Brendan Maguire who had a shot on goal. AJ Montana allowed five goals in 90 minutes to take the loss.

The game remained scoreless until the 5th minute when Bacigalupo took a ball from Duffau down the left side and fired the ball into the back of the net to give Mercy an early 1-0 lead. Hanken Tjostheim later made it 2-0 in the 15th minute after firing home a cross from Schilbred-Eriksen.

Hanken Tjostheim recorded his second goal of the day in the 30th minute to give Mercy a 3-0 lead and the Mavericks headed into halftime with a 3-0 advantage.

Hanken Tjostheim netted his third goal in the 59th minute to increase the Mavericks' lead to 4-0. Hanken Tjostheim finished off the scoring for Mercy in the 86th minute when he finished off a Bacigalupo through ball, which gave the Mavericks a 5-0 lead. The Mercy backline allowed just one shot on goal for the entire game as Mercy earned the 5-0 win in their ECC opener.

Mercy held a 16-11 edge in shots and a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. Staten Island held a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.

Head Coach Pedro Velazquez and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, September 18th when they host West Chester at 2:30 p.m.